The British Museum in London has agreed to lend a rare and sacred textile, the Brindavani Bastra, which was strongly linked with the saint, scholar, and social reformist Srimanta Sankardeva, who lived in the 15 th -16 th century Assam to Assam to be on display. On Saturday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the historic textile would be taken to the state on an 18-month loan in 2027.
The Brindavani Bastra, with its complex images of the life of Lord Krishna, and his childhood, in particular, is a masterpiece made of silk, cotton, and brass thread. It is 9.37 metres long, and 2.31 metres wide, and was commissioned by Sankardeva in person and a group of master weavers at the Patbausi Satra in Barpeta, under the guidance and instructions of the Koch king Naranarayan.
The textile, however, over centuries would travel much further than Assam and would first arrive in Tibet, and later it would be sent to the British Museum, where it is still preserved. Another fragment of the Brindavani Bastra is also exhibited at the Guimet Museum in Paris.
CM Sarma expressed his happiness by saying that it had taken many years to restore the Brindavani Bastra to Assam so that people could observe its spiritual and cultural value. We are extremely happy to have the British Museum consent to our request.
In preparation, the director of the museum, Nicholas Cullinan, has notified the Assam government that a digital exhibition of the Bastra will be staged in February 2026, before the physical loan, to enable a broader audience to partake.
The Assam government is constructing a new museum in Guwahati to facilitate its safe exhibition and permanent preservation, with land already being allocated. The JSW Group will undertake the construction as a CSR and then hand over the building to the state.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News